South Korea's July factory output falls but domestic demand jumps

[SEOUL] South Korea's industrial output fell in July and lagged market expectations on weak exports, but a sharp rebound in the service-sector output offered some relief for Asia's fourth-largest economy, data showed on Monday.

The industrial output index fell by a seasonally adjusted 0.5 per cent in July from June, the Statistics Korea data showed, which lagged the market's consensus view and followed a revised 2.5 per cent rise in June.

The June reading was upgraded from a provisional 2.3 per cent gain reported earlier.

The median forecast in a Reuters poll of economists was for July industrial output to edge up 0.1 per cent from June, although forecasts varied from a 1.0 per cent gain to a fall of 2.1 per cent.

On an annual basis, industrial output slipped 3.3 percent in July after a revised 1.4 per cent fall in June, the data showed, compared to a median 1.0 per cent decline tipped in the same Reuters survey.

But the statistics agency data showed the service-sector output index rebounded by a seasonally adjusted 1.7 per cent in July on a monthly basis after a revised 1.5 decline in June.

REUTERS